Samuel Lucas has been appointed Head of Communications at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), the government announced on Monday.

Lucas will take up the role on 7 September, succeeding Edward Montebello, who served in the position in recent years.

Lucas holds honours degrees in Law and English and spent seven years working in journalism, during which he also served as a deputy head of news.

For the past two years, he has worked within the communications office at the OPM.

In its statement announcing the appointment, the OPM thanked Montebello for the work he carried out while serving as Head of Communications over the past years.

Montebello is set to take over responsibility of the Labour Party's communications office, with incumbent Norma Saliba to move to Transport Malta.